– The Encroaching Noose –
by Elijah Gonzalez | Paste Magazine | March 21, 2025
It’s been 10 years since the first season of Wolf Hall charted Thomas Cromwell’s rise in Henry VIII’s court as our scrappy son-of-a-blacksmith navigated a den of aristocratic predators while somehow trying to maintain his morality. It was a precise, beautifully paced six-episode series that adapted the first two books in Hilary Mantel’s Cromwell trilogy before ending on a moment of wide-eyed horror that felt like a justified stopping point, even if it left this tale untold.
But now, five years after the final book in the series was published, we finally have this show’s grim denouement, Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light, a slow march to the gallows elevated by rich characters and a brilliant performance from Mark Rylance. Between its nuanced political struggles and air of inevitable tragedy, it makes for positively gripping television.
Despite the considerable real-world intermission, the latest run begins immediately where the last left off, gently recapping important events to bring audiences up to speed. Thomas Cromwell (Mark Rylance) has just brought about Queen Anne Boleyn’s (Claire Foy) downfall after fabricating evidence that led to her execution by order of Henry VII (Damian Lewis). Torn by guilt, Cromwell attempts to walk an increasingly perilous tightrope as his enemies consolidate power. Surrounded by the king’s increasingly erratic behavior on one side and a band of bloodthirsty nobles on the other, Cromwell finally begins to slip.
Peter Straughan (Conclave, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) returns to screenwriting duties to document this fall from grace, once again depicting complex characters stuck between conflicting desires. For instance, Cromwell is a man of many motivations, simultaneously working towards revenge for his mentor Cardinal Wolsey and promoting the Lutherans’ cause against the Catholic Church while ingratiating himself with the king to move up the ladder, leaving us to wonder which aim defines him. Mark Rylance masterfully captures all these underlying objectives with each subtle expression, making us feel why Cromwell is so loved by those close to him and so hated by his political foes; his warmth and cunning are two sides of the same coin. And as the season progresses, we see how his crisis of faith over his disparate goals pulls him towards danger, as he exhibits a tragic inability to let go even when offered a way out from the encroaching noose.
This depth even extends to the antagonist, the capricious King Henry VIII, a man defined by brief fits of kindness and much more lasting cruelty. Damian Lewis captures the range of Henry’s mood swings, chillingly segueing between outward levity and anger in a way that drives home Cromwell’s impossible task of placating this man. The rest of the cast are similarly memorable and multifaceted: Timothy Spall takes over the late Bernard Hill’s duties as the Duke of Norfolk, bringing a fitting impetuousness to the role; Thomas Brodie-Sangster returns as Cromwell’s protégé Rafe Sadler to help demonstrate Cromwell’s close bonds with his family; and Harry Melling takes over as the potential double agent Thomas Wriothesley, who embodies an interesting mix of worminess, pragmatism, and regret. That said, if the series has one major drawback when it comes to these portrayals, it’s that the multiple recastings made due to the 10-year hiatus between seasons can make events a bit difficult to follow at times; you’ll frequently ask yourself, is this a new character or one from the previous run with a new face?
Still, this excellent ensemble does justice to these life-or-death struggles between political opponents, something complemented by Peter Kosminsky’s sharp direction that captures how anyone could be next on the chopping block. Just like he did with the first season, Kosminsky brings us into the details of this historical moment, showing us the push and pull between supporters of the Protestant Reformation and proponents of the Catholic Church. You wouldn’t think backroom dealings delving into the bureaucratic minutiae of 16th-century royal court proceedings would be so riveting, but the steady thrum of danger makes every minor turn feel like it could be a death knell.
Transportive set designs and costuming pull us further into the weeds, amplifying the show’s already obsessive attention to detail as it steers clear of the caricatures that often accompany depictions of this infamous monarch’s reign. And despite only adapting a single book in the trilogy compared to the original series, which adapted two, this conclusion maintains the brisk pacing of its predecessor thanks to its command of tension and sense of place.
This depth even extends to the antagonist, the capricious King Henry VIII, a man defined by brief fits of kindness and much more lasting cruelty. Damian Lewis captures the range of Henry’s mood swings, chillingly segueing between outward levity and anger in a way that drives home Cromwell’s impossible task of placating this man. The rest of the cast are similarly memorable and multifaceted: Timothy Spall takes over the late Bernard Hill’s duties as the Duke of Norfolk, bringing a fitting impetuousness to the role; Thomas Brodie-Sangster returns as Cromwell’s protégé Rafe Sadler to help demonstrate Cromwell’s close bonds with his family; and Harry Melling takes over as the potential double agent Thomas Wriothesley, who embodies an interesting mix of worminess, pragmatism, and regret. That said, if the series has one major drawback when it comes to these portrayals, it’s that the multiple recastings made due to the 10-year hiatus between seasons can make events a bit difficult to follow at times; you’ll frequently ask yourself, is this a new character or one from the previous run with a new face?
Still, this excellent ensemble does justice to these life-or-death struggles between political opponents, something complemented by Peter Kosminsky’s sharp direction that captures how anyone could be next on the chopping block. Just like he did with the first season, Kosminsky brings us into the details of this historical moment, showing us the push and pull between supporters of the Protestant Reformation and proponents of the Catholic Church. You wouldn’t think backroom dealings delving into the bureaucratic minutiae of 16th-century royal court proceedings would be so riveting, but the steady thrum of danger makes every minor turn feel like it could be a death knell.
Transportative set designs and costuming pull us further into the weeds, amplifying the show’s already obsessive attention to detail as it steers clear of the caricatures that often accompany depictions of this infamous monarch’s reign. And despite only adapting a single book in the trilogy compared to the original series, which adapted two, this conclusion maintains the brisk pacing of its predecessor thanks to its command of tension and sense of place.
Wolf Hall: The Mirror and The Light premieres Sunday, March 23rd on PBS’s Masterpiece in the United States and will air weekly.
Read the rest of the original article at Paste Magazine